Aboff’s Paint acquires seven stores

When Aboff’s Paint & Wall Covering completed a deal to purchase seven Janovic paint stores from Benjamin Moore last month, the Huntington, N.Y.-based company became the largest independent dealer of Benjamin Moore paints in North America.

The acquisition represented confidence in the future at a time of near panic in the financial markets.

“It’s good to be aggressive when other people are fearful,” said Rod Aboff, third-generation owner of the company, which now has 28 locations -- all on New York’s Long Island.

The multi-store acquisition helped the company solidify its position in the upscale Hamptons section of Long Island, as well as to establish the brand in the southern part of Nassau County. The new stores are in Baldwin, Bellmore, Hicksville, Valley Stream, Wantagh, Woodmere and Wainscott.

Aboff’s closed the deal Oct. 6, and all seven stores should have new awnings and signage by mid-November. The company declined to reveal the purchase price.

“We’ve had a strong presence on the North Shore but had a weakness on the South Shore,” said Aboff, whose grandfather started the business with one store in Huntington Village, N.Y., in 1929. “We still have many weak pockets -- if we have 28 Benjamin Moore stores on Long Island, there are probably 50 we don’t have.”

Benjamin Moore, which had purchased the Janovic stores in 1999, said the deal follows company policy of returning small retail outlets back to independent dealers. There are 17 remaining Janovic Paint & Decorating Centers in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Chip Siglain, Benjamin Moore vp-company owned stores, said Aboff’s has been a valued retail partner for decades and that the two companies have shared a good relationship. “They have a true entrepreneurial spirit and they’ve been a great partner. Now they’re our largest partner,” he said.

Aboff’s carries the full Benjamin Moore paint line, as well as Pittsburgh Paints, a variety of wall coverings and Hunter Douglas window treatments. Aboff, who runs the company with his cousin Michael Aboff, said his stores put a premium on service, greeting customers at the door with a smile.

“Our employees are paint experts,” he said. “When someone comes in, we want to make sure he leaves with everything he’ll need for a job so he only has to make one trip.”

Aboff said this acquisition will strengthen synergies with Benjamin Moore and that the two companies will be “better aligned to accomplish their goals going forward.” It will also help him compete with Sherwin-Williams, which is “very aggressively going after the paint contractor on Long Island,” as well as the big boxes, “which have a low price strategy but whose prices aren’t always better than ours.”

Aboff said his company will continue to look at acquisition opportunities, although it “will take some time to digest this.” His company’s practice has been to add a store or two at a time, with the largest previous acquisition being four stores.

“We are the exit strategy for other independent dealers looking to sell,” he said.